First EU film fest to take place from Oct 18

The European Cultural Cluster (EUNIC) will organise the first edition of the European Film Festival in Doha, in partnership with the Museum of Islamic Art, from October 18-23.
“The festival will start with the screening of a selection of Austrian short films from the 2017 Ars Electronica Animation Festival. There will be two screenings daily, at 5pm and 8pm with the exception of the opening day and on October 21,” Dr Willy Kempel, ambassador of Austria and the local EU chair in Qatar, said at a press conference yesterday.
Ambassadors Bart De Groof (Belgium), Hans-Udo Muzel (Germany), Pasquale Salzano (Italy), Dr Cristian Tudor (Romania), Ewa Polano (Sweden), Bulgarian embassy counsellor Plamen Delev, French embassy’s cultural attache Thomas Penot, Portuguese embassy’s cultural attache Alexandra Esteves, along with the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) director Dr Julia Gonnella were also present.
“Culture has many languages and one major such medium is cinema  which conveys the multifaceted aspects of a country. Next year we will see more films and more variety from the participating countries,” explained Dr Kempel.
“Our films are on diverse topics. We are proud to screen these films at the prestigious MIA,” he added.
MIA’s Dr Gonnella hoped the initiative will lead to many more such activities from the these countries.
The participating countries are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Sweden.
Cinema lovers will have the opportunity to enjoy the screenings of the best European films. The entrance is free and all films are in original language with English subtitles. And the all the films are 15+.
EUNIC is Europe’s network of national cultural institutes, with 35 members composed of the national cultural institutes and other main cultural organisations from the 28 EU member states, established in over 150 countries.  
The EUNIC cluster in Qatar is the first of its kind to be established in the GCC. It gathers EU countries represented in Qatar with the aim to promote cultural and linguistic diversity and develop exchanges between European and Qatari youth and foster European and Qatari artists exchanges.